Ray the D.A.- Another look at the Lexington Fire Department

Ray: hello crime fighters, I’m ray the D.A. And this is Straight Talk. Along with Amber Freeman. This whole thing about introducing you to the Lexington fire department is a much bigger thing than we ever imagined. We get here; we take a tour and all of the sudden we find things we want to talk about. So this, what we’re getting ready to do, we’ve been on part of the tour of fire station one, and we’re gonna take the rest of the tour today. So…stay tuned.
Amber: alright, so I love that everything is in red. Is this the original color that it’s always been classic?
Firefighter 1: no, the red is not the original color. That’s the original wall and the original ceiling, and the station used to end here, and the kitchen and everything else back there is all added on.
Firefighter 2: alright, so we’re walking upstairs. We’re heading to the bunk room. Sleeping quarters up here.
Amber: ah, so this is kind of a chill room.
Firefighter 2: yes, that’s right.
Amber: nice! You have movie theater style seating in here.
Firefighter 1: don’t always get to use it.
Amber: why? There has to be a story behind that.
Firefighter 1: we’re so busy.
Firefighter 2: so we’re coming through this door right here, we’re heading towards the bunk rooms. Right here you’ve got the chiefs room, you’ve got the majors room right here. This is where the ambulance, those guys are at. Umm…there’s all sorts of uh lockers in here. Mostly, these are the guys who’ve been stationed here for quite a while, these are the veterans.
Firefighter 2: we keep the fans on in here, they’re a little loud because there’s quite a few people who snore during the night, so you’ve gotta do something to drown it out.
Amber: you’re not going to tell anybody out, right?
Firefighter 2: no, of course not.
Amber: so you’re here for so many hours, how many hours do you get to sleep?
Firefighter 2: well that depends, depends on the run volume, depends on the night, depends on what you’re riding. If you’re riding the engine, the ladder, the bugee, really…it’s all kind of dependent on the day.
Amber: so there’s no requirement on how many hours you have to sleep?
Firefighter 2: no.
Amber: does everybody bring their own sheets and pillows?
Firefighter 2: yes, m’am. Yes m’am. You’ve got this rack right here, full of people’s stuff. Those are from third shift.
Amber: how about stuffed animals?
Firefighter 2: no comment on that one!
Firefighter 1: alright, you know those trap doors you saw?
Amber: yes.
Firefighter 1: here’s one of them, where the poll is. So ray, pull that cord right there.
Ray: this one?
Firefighter 1: yep.
Amber: I feel like ray has done this before. Tell me how this works. Once you get a call, what happens? Say you’re sleeping, and you have a call.
Firefighter 2: you’re sleeping, you hear the tones, you get up and either you head downstairs or you slide down the poll.
Amber: so do people actually slide down the poll?
Firefighter 1: yes.
Amber: can we get a demonstration? Is there a technique?
Firefighter 2: I don’ think so. As fast as you can get down.
Amber: do they teach you once you start?
Firefighter 1: no.
Amber: really? So it’s just kind of a free for all.
Firefighter 2: I guess so.
Amber: alright, good luck! It’s a lot faster than you would think!
Ray: are you gonna do it?
Amber: are you gonna pay for a broken leg?
Alarm sounds in building
Firefighter 1: that’s the ambulance tone. An ambulance is getting ready to go out.
Amber: alright, let’s go see that. So talk us through this. What’s going on?
Firefighter 1: they’re going down to get on the truck to answer a call.
Amber: and so it’s just one tone like that, and do you know …
Firefighter 1: each truck has a different tone, if you will, and after awhile you get to know your tones.
Amber: so what was that tone we just heard?
Firefighter 1: that was the ambulance tone.
Amber: and do you know what kind of call you’re heading to, as soon as you hear that?
Firefighter 1: whatever dispatch says when they’re talking. So they’re going for an injured person.
Amber: an injured person, so do you have a time that you’re trying to stay within once you get that tone and you’re in the truck and out?
Firefighter 1: yes. We try to meet a standard, too.
Amber: what is that?
Firefighter 1: to be out of the house I believe its three minutes, and to be on scene less than eight minutes.
Ray: hello crime-fighters, we just finished our tour , my date and I, amber, and umm…if you watched the whole thing, you realize that there’s a lot going on in our fire department here in Lexington, and we are very fortunate to have such a good group of people and equipment, and they’re dedicated to our safety. Now, you’re gonna hear them tell you that they’re not responsible for anything I say on this program…so…take it for what it’s worth. See ya next time, crime fighters!
Narrator: the opinions expressed in this segment are not necessary those of the management and staff of ABC 36.